There's Gotta Be A Better Way
by xperimental
Summary: A collection of oneshots rewriting events from the show as they would have happened if Joey had never left.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: There's Gotta Be A Better Way.  
Author: xperimental  
Rating: PG  
Disclaimer: If they belonged to me then I wouldn't have to write fic because this is what you'd see on the show. So no, not mine. Not that I'd ever take credit for Angelo anyway.  
Series summary: A collection of one shots re-writing events from the show as they would've happened if Charlie wasn't a stupid, cheating slapper and Joey was still around.  
Episode summary: This one takes place around episodes 4881 and 4882 where Irene's trawler got sunk and Aden decided that he wanted to marry Belle**

**Acid Tongue**

Running his hands through his short hair, Aden looked away from Angelo and back down at the few floating remains of the trawler, wondering what he had done to piss off whoever it was who controlled these things. The one time that he really couldn't afford to be out of a job and the boat gets sunk.

"Hey. Sucks, huh?"

He chuckled and turned to the dark haired girl that'd just sidled up next to him. "You couldn't have called me to let me know? I busted my ass getting here because I thought I was going to be late."

"You were late," Joey pointed out. "And I only got here about two minutes before you did."

Aden smirked at her. "Late night with Charlie?" he teased.

"Something like that but that's not why I'm late. Ruby was hogging the bathroom this morning. I'll never understand how it can take so much time to get her hair to look like that."

"Alright, I'm done here," Angelo announced, interrupting them. "Now you're all going to have to accompany me to the station to be interviewed."

"Is that really necessary?" Gibbsy challenged. He didn't like the idea of having his two deckhands being questioned by the cops about the boat, who knew what they might say. It was bad enough that Joey was living with one. "Surely you can't think that any of us had anything to do with this."

Angelo puffed himself up, crossing his arms over his chest. He did not like his authority being questioned. "It's proper procedure, Mr. Gibson."

"Didn't care much about proper procedure when he shot Jack," Aden mumbled. He may have been grateful to Angelo for getting Irene out of prison, mostly for Belle's sake, but hadn't forgotten the events of the last year nor the fact that Angelo's incompetent police work was the reason that Irene had been in there in the first place.

"You three, follow me."

-

"Watson!" Angelo barked, leading the trio into the police station and accosting the first officer that was unlucky enough to cross his path. "Show Mr. Gibson into the interview room."

"I don't work for you," Watson shot back instantly. "Get one of your blue overall brigade to do it."

"They're all busy."

"Not my problem. I guess you'll just have to wait."

"Or you could just do as your ordered!" Angelo raised his voice, causing Charlie to emerge from her office to investigate the commotion.

"What is going on?"

"Constable Watson is refusing to assist me in interviewing these suspects," Angelo spoke before Watson could get a word in. Charlie raised an eyebrow at the use of the word 'suspects' to describe Joey and Aden. "I was assured that I'd have the full co-operation of the entire station, once my superiours hear about this-"

"There's no need for that," Charlie said placatingly. The last thing she needed was another angry phone call from her bosses. Knowing that he'd keep throwing a tantrum until he got his way, Charlie sighed. "Watson, assist Constable Rosetta with his enquires…." Then remembering that, with Joey's encouragement, she was trying to work on her interpersonal relationships, she tacked on a rather unconvincing, "Please."

But, after months of being Charlie's verbal punching bag, it was enough for Watson. "Fine." She threw the folders she was holding down onto her desk. -She'd better not get into trouble for her paperwork not being in on time because of this- and turned to Gibbsy. "Right this way, Mr Gibson."

"I'll be in in a minute," Angelo called after her. "I just have to make a quick phone call." Watson just rolled her eyes in response. Turning his back on Charlie without so much as a thank you, Angelo picked up the station phone and started dialling.

Not that Charlie minded in the slightest, she took the opportunity to make a beeline for her girlfriend. "What's happened?"

"The boat was sunk last night and apparently we're all suspects," Joey said with a hint of a smile. She always tried to find the funny side of things.

"Which is stupid," Aden growled loudly, not caring when Angelo overheard him and glared at him from across the room. "As if we'd want to put ourselves out of a job."

Letting his temper get the better of him, Angelo slammed down the phone receiver and stormed over. "I told you, it's procedure. Now sit down and keep your mouth shut until it's your turn to be interviewed!"

"Angelo!" Charlie exclaimed, shocked. She really didn't get his attitude, he was always saying that he wasn't there to be liked, he just wanted respect, yet he never showed any to anybody else. She'd already passed on several complaints that she'd received about his attitude and aggression towards others, not that that had gotten her anywhere. Angelo Rosetta was staying in the bay for the foreseeable future and there was nothing that she could do about it.

"Whatever," Aden spat at his former rival for Belle's affections and went to sit down on the uncomfortable wooden bench. Angelo wasn't worth getting into a slanging match with, Aden wasn't going to risk his good behaviour bond. Especially now.

Pleased that he had put Aden in his place, Angelo smiled smugly and walked away before Charlie could even try to reprimand him.

"That must be fun to work with," Joey remarked cheekily. She'd been subjected to many of Charlie's irate rants when it came to the formerly crooked cop, it seemed like everyday he did something to piss her girlfriend off, but this was her first time actually experiencing Angelo in person.

Charlie scoffed. "Oh, you have no idea."

"Oh, I think I may have a few."

"Yeah." Charlie ducked her head, blushing, as she remembered her annoyed rants about her former partner. Thank god Joey was such a good listener.

"Um," Joey began awkwardly, unsure of how to broach the subject. "He's going to want to know where I was last night. What do you want me to say?" she asked, respecting the fact that Charlie wanted to keep her personal life separate from her professional one as much as possible.

Charlie smiled gently at her girlfriend's consideration of her feelings. "Just tell him the truth."

"Okay." Joey grinned back, feeling like they had just taken a massive step forward without even realizing it. It really didn't take much to make her happy.

"Senior?" The constable behind the desk called out to Charlie, holding up a fax that'd just come through. Obviously, Senior Constable Buckton's attention was required.

Charlie held up a finger, indicating to him that she would be there in a minute and turned back to Joey. "So, since you're not working, do you want to have lunch with me?" she asked, slyly running her hand down Joey's arm.

"Hmm, sure, I think I'll be able to fit you into my suddenly empty schedule."

"Great, meet me at the Diner at one?"

Joey was surprised but tried not to show it, the only times that they ever had lunch out in public was when Ruby had been with them. Usually, they just met up back at home to eat, away from prying eyes. "I can do that."

The officer from before called out for Charlie again, more insistently this time.

"Duty calls," Charlie said, rolling her eyes. "I'll see you later." She briefly squeezed Joey's hand tightly, in lieu of a goodbye kiss and went of to deal with whatever had her colleague so concerned.

Joey joined her glum looking friend on the bench. "Hey." She nudged him with her elbow. "I didn't know you liked working on the boat that much. You look like somebody's told you that your cat's been turned into road kill," she joked, trying to bring a smile to Aden's face.

"I don't have a cat. And I don't like working on the boat, well I do, but I don't love it like you do. However, I do love getting paid and I really can't afford to be out of a job right now," he explained.

Joey frowned, surely Aden had enough saved up to cover him until he found something else.

"I'm going to ask Belle to marry me," he revealed, knowing that Joey could be trusted with the information.

"Seriously? Didn't you guys just move in together, like yesterday?" _And people accuse lesbians of moving fast_, she thought to herself but didn't dare voice it out loud because she knew that she really had no right to talk; she'd moved in with Charlie before they'd even become a couple.

"Yeah, but I already know that Belle is the girl that I want to spend the rest of my life with, why waste time when we can make it official?"

"Fair enough." Joey couldn't argue with that. "I'm really happy for you, Aid, you two have been through so much, you deserve this."

"Thanks, Jo." He smiled at her before remembering why he was in such a foul mood in the first place. "Anyway, I've put a deposit down on this antique ring and it cost a bomb. If don't find a way to come up with the rest of the cash soon, I'll lose the ring and the deposit."

"Ah, now I see your problem."

The door to the interview room opened and Angelo emerged, followed by Gibbsy. "Thanks for your co-operation, Mr Gibson. I'll contact you if I have any other questions."

"No worries," Gibbsy said amicably, now confident that this idiot was no threat to his operation. "Happy to help."

Angelo flashed him a tight lipped smile then turned his attention to the other two sitting in reception. "Collins!" he bellowed, drawing the attention and scorn of everyone in the station. Most especially Charlie, who added it to her list of things to yell at him about later. "You're up."

"He really does not like you," Aden observed, amused.

"Believe me," Joey sighed, standing. "The feeling's more than mutual."

-

"Where were you between the hours of one and six this morning?" Angelo began the interview without any preamble.

"In bed."

"Convenient," he sneered. "Can anyone corroborate that?"

"My girlfriend can."

Watson had to bite her lip to keep from smirking as Angelo flinched. Oh this was just too good.

"That doesn't mean much, she was asleep, you could've snuck out at anytime," he continued with his ludicrous line of questioning.

"I said that we were in bed," Joey corrected him. "I never said that we were sleeping."

This time Watson couldn't stop herself from laughing at the stricken look on Angelo's face, it was such a classic 'Oh snap!' moment and the fact that it was delivered by Charlie's much younger female lover just made it that much sweeter.

"You think that you're better than me, don't you," Angelo shouted the accusation at Joey, who seemed completely unaffected by the sudden and unexpected turn in the interrogation.

"No, I don't. Actually, I don't really think about you at all," Joey answered honestly, not intimidated by him in the slightest.

Seething, Angelo slammed his folder shut and shot up from his chair. "Get her out of here," he told Watson before storming out of the room.

Watson, unable to speak through her muffled giggles, gave him the thumbs up. Finally she got a hold of herself enough to ask. "Six hours, really? Impressive."

**Next time: Ruby wants to take a ride on Xavier's disco stick but Charlie says no, no, no.**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN - This one takes place during episodes 4886 and 4887.**

-

**Sister Knows Best**

"Ruby, you're wasting your breath," Charlie practically growled, shoving her key into the lock and turning it with extra force. Ever since Ruby had made her little announcement at dinner they had been arguing about it and Charlie had had just about enough. "It's not going to happen."

"Yes, it is, Charlz, whether you like it or not." Ruby honestly didn't know why her sister was making this into such a huge deal. She just wanted to make love to her boyfriend, it wasn't like she was going to tie Charlie to a chair and force her to watch.

"No, it's not and if you keep pushing it you can forget about even having a birthday party."

Charlie tossed her purse down onto the table and ran her hands through her hair, wishing that Joey wasn't working and was there to help talk some sense into the headstrong teen.

"Are you serious?" Ruby scoffed. "You know, even if it doesn't happen on that night, you can't watch me every second of the day, how are you going to stop us? Are you going to lock me away in my room until you decide I'm ready?"

"If I have to!"

Ruby's jaw dropped. "Are you even listening to yourself? You are being ridiculous, Charlie!" She shook her head disbelievingly and decided to play her ace. "You know, Joey will totally be on my side."

"She will not!" Charlie yelled, knowing that Ruby was probably right.

In a fortuitous piece of timing, the likes of which only happened on television, Joey arrived home from her shift at Noah's, where she was working part time until the trawler was seaworthy again.

"Hey," she greeted the sisters cautiously, dropping her bag by the door and making her way to Charlie's side.

"Thank god you're here," Charlie sighed in relief and leaned into her girlfriend's embrace. "Joey, would you please tell Ruby that she's being totally immature?"

"No, tell Charlie that she's completely overreacting," Ruby demanded.

"Uhhh, okay, I will as soon as one of you tells me what's going on."

"_Ruby_ has decided that she is going to lose her virginity to Xavier on her birthday."

"Oh." That certainly wasn't what Joey had been expecting to hear. Usually it was just fights over clothes and shoes that she was called upon to settle.

"And _Charlie_ says that I can't-"

"What did you expect me to say?" Charlie cried in frustration. "Why did you even tell me if you didn't want me to object?" There was a reason that the saying 'ignorance is bliss' was one of Charlie's favourites.

"Well I wouldn't have if I'd known that you were going to turn into some kind of insane sex nazi!"

"I am not a sex nazi!" Charlie yelped defensively. "What does that even mean?"

Seeing the dismay written all over her girlfriend's face, Joey stepped in, gently taking Charlie by the shoulders. "Yeah, how about we don't get into that. Ruby, can you give us a minute?"

"I told you that she would be on my side!" Ruby couldn't help bragging triumphantly.

"Rubes," Joey hissed warningly over her shoulder at the slightly younger girl.

"Okay, okay." Ruby held her hands up in surrender. "I'll go to my room."

"Come, sit." Joey guided Charlie to sit on the couch as Ruby flitted out of the room. She ran a hand through her girlfriend's magnificent mane of dark hair and looked at her expectantly, knowing that it would do no good to push, Charlie would open up in her own time.

"I know, I'm overreacting," Charlie groaned, nuzzling against the hand that was still cupping her cheek for a moment. "But you should have heard her, Joey, she has the whole thing planned out, she even knows what sheets they're going to do it on."

"Well, at least she's not just rushing into it on a whim," Joey said, trying to look on the upside. "Obviously, this is something that she's put a lot of thought into-"

"But she shouldn't be thinking about it at all!"

"She's a teenager," Joey pointed out the obvious. "They tend to do that. A lot."

That was enough to briefly bring an amused smile to Charlie's face. "Okay, so she's thinking about it, it doesn't mean that she has to do it! She's too young, she's not ready. She might think that she is but she's not. And without mum and dad around, it's my responsibility to protect her."

"From what?" Joey frowned. "Xavier?"

Charlie just shrugged, incapable of explaining exactly what it was that she was so afraid of without lifting the lid on a whole can of worms that was best left unopened. "I just really don't want her making a mistake and then ending up regretting it for the rest of her life."

"Are you sure that's all this is?" Joey asked, watching Charlie's reaction closely. She'd seen the scar on her girlfriend's abdomen, noticed how her stress levels had been increasing every day in the lead up to Ruby's birthday and now this. It didn't exactly take a genius to put it all together.

_Tell her, Charlie, just tell her._ "Yeah, I'm sure. Look, can you please just talk to her and tell her it's a bad idea? She'll listen to you, I know she will," Charlie begged, sounding desperate.

"Why would she do that?"

"Because you're not her hysterical overprotective big sister, for one thing."

"No, I'm just her hysterical overprotective big sister's girlfriend."

"But you're also her friend." Charlie squeezed Joey's hand and looked at her pleadingly. "Please?"

"Okay, I'll talk to her, though I doubt it's going to do any good. But Charlie, at the end of the day it's Ruby's choice, you're just going to have to trust that she'll make the right one."

Charlie closed her eyes as Joey leaned forward and planted a kiss on her forehead before going to, hopefully, talk Ruby out of making a horrible mistake. And if that didn't work then maybe she'd just have to pay Hugo a visit in the morning, if Ruby couldn't be talked out of it then maybe Xavier could be made to see sense.

-

"Hey," Joey said quietly, shutting the door behind her as she entered Ruby's bedroom.

"So have you managed to talk some sense into her yet?" Ruby asked, sliding her phone shut after having just fired off a furious text message to her boyfriend.

"Come on, Rubes," Joey said gently, sitting on the side of the bed. "Cut her some slack. You know that she's only trying to protect you."

"More like she's trying to control me," Ruby rebutted stubbornly. "She needs to realize that I'm not a little kid anymore. I suppose that she's sent you in here to try and talk me out of it."

"Yeah, she did. But I'm not going to."

"You're not?" Ruby asked, totally surprised and wondering if this was some kind of trick.

"I really don't think that there'd be a point. You've obviously made up your mind and I know that you're just about as stubborn as Charlie is."

"Must be in our genes," quipped Ruby.

"Must be," Joey agreed, shifting uncomfortably. "But Rubes, are you sure that this is what you want?"

Ruby looked highly unamused by her friend's question. "I thought that you weren't going to try and talk me out of it."

"I'm not. I just want to make sure that you know what you're getting yourself into. Look, I know that most girls picture their first time to be this perfect magical event but, ninety nine percent of the time, it's not. It's awkward and fumbling, sometimes it can be painful and most of the time it's disappointing, regardless of whether it's with a guy or a girl," Joey warned her, not wanting Ruby to go into this with her head full of unrealistic expectations, no doubt fuelled by all those television shows where every young girl's first time having sex turns out to be the best thing ever. "Think about it, if it's bad, do you really want to always remember your sixteenth birthday as the night you had really bad sex for the first time?"

Ruby grimaced, she hadn't really thought about any of that. She'd just assumed that since Xavier had had sex before, he'd know what he was doing and it'd be good. "Okay, maybe I see your point. But it's going to have to happen sometime, right?"

Joey nodded. "That's true, but…just make sure that you're doing it for the right reasons and not just because you finally legally can, okay?"

"I am…but I guess that maybe you've given me something else to think about," Ruby admitted reluctantly.

"Good." Joey awkwardly rubbed her palms up and down her thighs, unsure of what to do next. "So…good talk?"

"Good talk," Ruby confirmed with an amused smile. "You're way better than Charlie at this pseudo-parenting stuff."

_Awkward,_ Joey thought to herself. "Thanks, I think. Anyway, I'd better go and check on Charlie, make sure that she hasn't worn a hole in the carpet or something."

-

Charlie hated working the night shift. And she hated it even more when she had to work the night shift on the very same night of Ruby's 16th birthday. Despite being able to make a brief appearance at the party, she had soon been called out on a job that had taken a lot longer than it should've. While she knew that Joey was there looking out for Ruby, it just wasn't the same.

By the time her shift was over it was well after midnight and she headed straight home, hoping that common sense had won out and Ruby wasn't off somewhere having sex with her boyfriend.

"Hi," she greeted her girlfriend, who was curled up on the couch playing with her phone. Obviously Joey had been waiting up for her. "Where's Ruby?"

"In bed." Joey set her phone aside. "Alone, I'm sure that you'll be happy to hear."

"Oh thank god!" Charlie sighed in relief, feeling like a weight had been lifted. She happily joined her girlfriend on the couch and relaxed into her arms. "So what happened?"

"Well, I'm sure that you'll get all the gory details from her in the morning but basically, the punch was spiked-"

"What?" Charlie gasped. "Who'd be stupid enough to spike the punch at a party for a cop's sister?"

"Uh, teenage boys," Joey answered dryly. She hadn't been surprised at all, an open punch bowl always spelled trouble.

Charlie shook her head disapprovingly. "Bloody teenagers."

"Since I technically still am one, I take offence to that. We're not all bad."

Charlie's eyes widened, she couldn't help tensing up and pulling away a little at the reminder of the eleven year age gap between them. Joey was so mature that it was easy to forget that she was only nineteen.

"Relax," Joey giggled, pulling Charlie back to her. "You're not in cougar territory just yet."

Charlie laughed and relaxed against her, appreciating her girlfriend's ability to diffuse a situation with humour.

"Anyway, Jai got drunk, told Annie that he thought about sex a lot and so she broke up with him. Me and Nicole spent most of the night babysitting him before she took him home. But it was enough to somehow change Ruby's mind, so I guess that some good has come of it." Joey chose to leave out the part about everybody finding out about Ruby and Xavier's plans, figuring that would be better left up to Ruby to tell her.

"Thank you for tonight, for looking out for her when I couldn't be there," Charlie said, looking adoringly at Joey and lacing their fingers together. "You're really good with her."

"It's not like she's hard to get along with." Joey bit her lip, considering her next words carefully. "She's really great, you should be proud of her."

Charlie looked at her questioningly, panicking internally, _Does she know? It sounds like she knows. But how could she know? Stop being stupid, Charlie._ before getting a hold of herself and choosing to accept Joey's comment at face value. "I am. I really am."

**Next time: It's Belle's hen's night.**


End file.
